a symbolic language to question our most profound
perceptions of a laugh.
Using the universal and symbolic language of pictograms,
Lionni talks about life. Through this abrupt and minimal
universe the artist shows us a mirror of the human condition.
However this political and critical work is also a humoristic
vision of contemporary society. The graphic simplicity of this
visual language is open-ended, leaving the spectator’s
imagination free to construct while never indifferent.
Facts of Life pictograms are original images by
Pippo Lionni and they are protected by copyright.
(…)“Pictograms are supposed to be self-evident.
(…) The language is very basic, it is archetypal and
just a bit more elaborate than one might find on signs in
any international airport or bus station…The captions
included at the bottom of each page are intentionally vague.
Their purpose is to help people invent their own
interpretations, rather than to provide a key to decipher or
to explain.” (…)
Pippo Lionni, 2001 Facts of Life 2 preface
(…)“Pippo Lionni fully assumes the role of the artist as
storyteller and contrasts the attitude of some of his
contemporaries for whom art is a perfect and autonomous
object. (…) For him the aim is not to represent but to
reorganize the world and to discover new angles of approach.
(…) If the first volume of Facts of Life (Pippo Lionni)
establishes the bases of his artistic vocabulary, the second
proves the efficiency of his system. The third Facts of Life
shows how the artist’s language has become affirmative and
his attitude radical.”(…)
Samantha Barroero, 2002 Facts of Life 3 preface.
(…)”Whatever the medium, from a collection of small
fluorescent booklets to installations in art galleries, he
operates a shift –not without humour- in the use of pictograms
and brings them to life through a critical satire of our social existence.
( … ) What else can these pictograms reveal? As a universal and
normalized form of language, they landmark our daily life - perceived
and understood by all without ambiguity.”
Sarah Carrière-Chardon
